


Lucky Signs

by pastles



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 03:58:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3194483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastles/pseuds/pastles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi and Iruka, after Naruto and Sasuke leave the village. A small glimpse of the two teachers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lucky Signs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tucuxi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tucuxi/gifts).



> For the KakaIru Winter Fest! Thank you mods for being so patient with me with my late submission!
> 
> For tucuxi! I hope you like! I took one of your prompts and just kinda... ran with it. (I am an extremely slow runner.)

**Part 1: Tea Leaves In A Cup**

Iruka did not want to be there, in the dimly lit palm reader shop. The air was smoky and there was a sickly sweet smell in there that Iruka could not identify. Iruka did not like strange smells that he did not know. But his date wanted to have her palm read, and so there they were, her with dainty hand held between wrinkly and calloused ones.

His date giggled as the fortune teller told her something that Iruka was not bothered enough to lip read. This was what happened when you dated a civilian. No amount of ryu in world would make Iruka let a stranger touch his hand. Disregarding the various attacks he opened himself to with one of his hands caught… there was no telling what a good shinobi could find out about Iruka just by touching his palm. 

In any case, if his date wanted to have her fate read, then Iruka could have done it too. They weren't 100% accurate, but there were a few jutsu that would allow Iruka to look into the future.

“A tea leaf stalk floating vertical in your cup… you’re about to meet someone really special today… Hmm, or maybe you've already met the special one? Someone's about to get lucky tonight… ”

“Huh?” It took all of Iruka’s training to only blink at the sudden low voice next to him. Did he doze off? Ever since Orochimaru’s attack, Iruka had been a little more uptight, but they were in a festival in the middle of Konoha…

But so were the Chuunin Exams…

Iruka turned and smiled, "Ah… I don't really believe in such things. Ryoko, I'm going outside for a breather. Look for me later, okay?"

With a brief bow at the newcomer, whose face was half hidden in the shadows, Iruka left the cramped shop. Leaning against the wall next to the doorway, Iruka looked out towards the crowd. He smiled at the excited sounds and at the busy people milling around. Really, he was glad for the festival, it brought life and vitality to a village that was just recently full of death. Iruka tossed a sweet at a student who was waving happily at him. Iruka did not want to see the smiles disappear from the faces of the children.

And he would do anything to prevent that from happening again.

+

"Lucky day… my ass." Iruka cursed under his breath as he nursed his new bruises over the red palm print on his right cheek.

"No more civilians, I swear." Iruka spat the blood pooling in his mouth out as he slid down against the wall until his butt hit the ground, his usual grace missing.

The ally was dark, but enough light shone from the windows above Iruka to illuminate the dark shapes around him. A sudden dizzy spell came over him, and it took all of Iruka's will to not puke. Panting slightly, Iruka forced his legs under him, and using the brick wall behind as support, slowly pushed himself up. He still needed to wait for his backup, and given how he felt, he was going to need help disposing of the bodies.

"Need a hand, Iruka-sensei?"

"Yes, please." Iruka tried not to grimace as his wounds screamed. He was glad that backup had arrived, but really, this wasn't someone he wanted to see anytime soon.

The two of them made quick work cleaning up the scene of the crime, although Iruka was honest enough to admit that the other ninja did most of the work. Iruka had his hands full trying to not bleed out from the sword cut in his side.

"Thank you, I can manage." Iruka muttered through gritted teeth. If he was lucky, the other ninja would just believe that it was him being annoyed, and not with the throbbing pain throughout his body.

"It is not weakness to receive help from a comrade, you know, Iruka-sensei."

"I am not your sensei…" Iruka rolled his eyes, but stopped trying to pull away. He wasn't really expecting to be able to able to escape the jounin's grasp anyway. As much as he trusted his fellow ninja, it still felt uncomfortable to have something across his back. But his body was feeling the after effects of the poison gas, and he was slowly losing consciousness. Before long, everything turned black.

+

The first thing that Iruka was conscious of when he woke up was the smell. It smelled like antiseptic (the bad ones… the good ones could knock you out even with a whiff) and… 

Wet dog?

Slowly turning his head towards the source of the smell, Iruka's frown turned into an amused but confused expression. Kakashi was sitting in a chair by the window, a pug snoring in his lap. Confusingly, the wet dog smell did not seem to be coming from the dog. It was coming from the flak jacket hanging off the arm of the chair that Kakashi was sitting on. The puddle under it confirmed Iruka's guess.

"Good morning, Iruka-sensei." 

Iruka's gaze travelled up from the flak jacket to Kakashi's face. Even though the mask was still on, Iruka was certain that Kakashi was smiling.

But whether the smile was a genuine one or not, Iruka was not too sure. 

"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei. Thanks for…"

"Last night, you managed to tell me what gas it was that you inhaled before you passed out so it took no time for the medic-nins to flush it out."

"Ah…" Iruka could feel his face getting flushed, slightly embarrassed that he was careless enough let that happened. If only he had been a little faster… Maybe…

"Don't be too concerned about that…"

"I'm not." Embarrassed at how easy it was for Kakashi to read him, Iruka's reply was snappish. Immediately regretting it, Iruka rubbed his hand over his eyes.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I didn't mean to get so short with you."

"No problem… Well…"

"Hmm?" Iruka looked back towards Kakashi, who was now standing. The pug was now blinking sleepily up at Iruka from Kakashi's ankle.

"Well, since you're awake, I'll go get the medic-nins."

"It's fine, I can just push the…" Iruka tried to stop Kakashi, but the other man was out of the room before he could even finish sentence. 

Then it hit Iruka. Had Kakashi stayed around the whole night?

**Part 2: Rabbit's Foot**

Iruka winced as the shuriken flew distressingly close to his face.

Man, he really hated it when clients lie about the difficulty of their missions. They were definitely going to have to charge the client extra for this one. Iruka swore that he'd increased the extra charges by 2 times of the original price when a charm exploded above his head.

No, he was going to charge the client 5 times the original prince.

With his kunai between his teeth, Iruka crept towards the enemy. What should have been a straightforward delivery mission with Iruka delivering a note turned into a 3 hour fight just before Iruka reached his destination. Either the client did not want to pay Konoha the delivery fee, or he did not want anyone but the recipient to know about the scroll and its contents. Which was stupid, either way. The scroll with the message was sealed with a jutsu that did not allow anyone but the recipient to open it (it required the blood of the recipient to open), and even if Iruka were to die during the mission, as long as the message was confirmed to be delivered (and Konoha had ways), the client would still have to pay. 

Or maybe the attackers just wanted to kill a ninja.

"Come out, come out, shinobi-san… we won't hurt you."

Iruka made mental note; if he survived this, he should never sigh when he was at the mission desk with the new Godaime Hokage. Apparently Tsunade-sama took that as a sigh of boredom, and that it was her cue to assign seemingly easy "B" ranked missions to her chuunins.

Well, Iruka really shouldn't be complaining. Compared to the jounins, chuunins had it was easier. There were more of them, and they were rarely assigned missions above "A" ranked. The jounins did the crazy "S" ranked missions on top of the "A" ranked ones and very often, back to back. Not that Iruka did not understand the reasons behind why Tsunade-sama pushed the Konoha ninjas so much. The years serving Sandaime had hammered something regarding politics into Iruka, and he totally understood the reasons for not rejecting any request that came to Konoha.

Thinking of Sandaime caused a pang in Iruka's chest. He missed his mentor. He missed the tea sessions where he would get his butt kicked at shogi; he even missed the scent of tobacco. Nothing was going to bring all o f that back…

A movement on his left stilled Iruka's actions. The enemy had gotten nearer t o him. Iruka prepared his kunai and waited. His traps were set and all it would take would be for the enemy to make their next move.

The agonised screams of his attackers caused Iruka to frown. That was not what he expected.

The blast following the screams though…

Iruka carefully picked his way towards the blast area, not really knowing what to expect. 

The sight that greeted Iruka was definitely not what he expected. A Konoha jounins stood right in the middle of the blast zone, totally unscathed, even though everything else was in pieces. 

"Kakashi-san?" That shock of white hair was definitely familiar to Iruka. 

"Ah."

Iruka climbed out from his hiding spot and started walking towards Kakashi. With his hands on his hips, Iruka surveyed the area and permitted a small smile of satisfaction to appear. The whole area was cleared of everything, but the blast had been cleanly contained within a certain area. The only evidence of his attackers was the bodies lying by the trees.

Iruka stole a glance at Kakashi, and the body that Kakashi was holding onto by the back of his shirt. Iruka had a niggling suspicion that Kakashi was the one who activated his trip, and deliberately at that. Shrugging his shoulders, Iruka checked to make sure that his mission was still in his pouch. He should take care of his attackers.

"These were my targets, thanks to your traps, I had a much easier than expected time taking care of them."

Iruka's eyebrows disappeared under his headband. So he wasn't the right target? Iruka felt a little disappointed. He was looking forward to the extra income from the extra charges. Just a bit more, and he'd have enough to move out of his current apartment. He'd been looking at a new flat; it was nearer to the academy, and it was bigger than his current one. 

At least, Naruto would have a space to bunk in when he came back from his training.

"Well, lucky for me then. In that case, I'd be off first. Later, Kakashi-san."

With a short nod at this comrade, Iruka hurried on his way. He was not going to turn back to see what Kakashi did with the bodies. Sometimes, it was better to not know. But something stopped Iruka. The same something caused him to turn back to Kakashi.

"We should go for ramen together sometime."

Kakashi, with his back towards Iruka did not say anything, but Iruka smiled and turned back to hurry on his way. He already had Kakashi's answer.

+

**Part 3: (Bad? Good?) Luck Comes In Threes**

It was Wednesday evening, and Iruka had just cleared the last of the documents at the mission desk. He massaged the back of his neck, and stretched. Stifling a yawn, Iruka got up from his chair, and with his satchel slung across his chest, he waved bye to his colleagues on the night shift and left the mission room. It was a cold night, and Naruto had already left the village for 6 months. 

The village was finally back to how it was before the war with Sound, and now, Iruka was hungry for ramen. Iruka breathed into his cold palms, warming them. Damn it, it was still warm during the day. Time to dig out the winter wear.

And he could finally wear the bright red gloves that Naruto sent him.

Iruka looked up at the starry sky. Where was Naruto now? Even though Iruka got relatively regular updates (mostly from Tsunade-sama), it was different from being able to see the loud boy daily. Even trusting that Jiraiya-sama would take care of Naruto, Iruka fretted. He trusted the Sannin to teach Naruto what the boy needed to know to be a good ninja, but Iruka didn't trust the Sannin to be able to pay attention to what Naruto was eating. Given what Iruka knew about Jiraiya, Iruka felt that it was more than reasonable for him to believe that Jiraiya would lead Naruto down a path of no return.

Iruka missed Naruto, but he knew that it was for the best that Naruto left the village.

"Iruka-sensei! Iruka-sensei! Good evening!"

"Haruno-san! Good evening!" Iruka stopped in front of the Ino flower shop. "Ino-kun, good evening."

Iruka's former student smiled brightly at him, "Iruka-sensei! Good evening! Haruno-obaasan, I'll just wrap this up for you then? Excuse me for a moment."

Iruka wondered how they were even able to get the cherry blossoms at this time of the year. Iruka smiled at the middle aged lady who waved him over. 

"Sakura-kun seems to be doing well under the Hokage."

"Ah? Really? I'm so glad to hear that!" Sakura's mother smiled, a hand resting on her cheek. "The girl never says anything about her training, so I was worried."

"Eh? Really?" Iruka let an expression of surprise cross his face. "Don't worry so much, Haruno-san. I've even heard the Hokage praise her!"

Iruka might not have been surprised that Sakura did not tell anything to her civilian mother, but it was true that the Hokage had praised the young kunoichi. Sakura seemed to be flourishing under the tutelage of one of Konoha's best medic-nins. Iruka was proud of his student. Iruka believed that what his pupils achieved, they achieved on their own merits.

But he still felt a sense of pride when he saw how much more his students have grown outside of his classroom.

After a few more minutes of small chat, Iruka excused himself. He knew that if he didn't leave soon, his stomach was going to embarrass him. Iruka looked up at the night skies, and the stars. According to Izumo, his horoscope said that he was meant to have to good luck tonight. Iruka placed no faith in those sorts of things, but Izumo loved reading them. 

"Eh? Kakashi-sensei?" How rare. The jounin was leaning against the doorway of Ichiraku. It's been a while since Iruka saw him; not since the last time in the forest.

"Iruka-sensei! Good evening!" Kakashi closed his book with a resounding snap and stood away from the wall. 

Iruka was a little taken aback by the bright expression Kakashi showed him, but he didn't let that stop him from entering the store. "Are you here for ramen too?"

"Ah? Didn't we make a date the last time, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi very naturally followed Iruka into the store and very naturally sat next to the bemused teacher.

"We did?" Surely Kakashi did not mean the last time in the forest?

"The last time in the forest…?"

So he did.

Iruka placed his order, and so did Kakashi. As they waited for their food to arrive, an awkward silence fell between them. Iruka did not expect Kakashi to take his flyaway invitation seriously. It was not like the two of them talked with each other very often. The conversations between them were generally limited to mission details and the progress of the village's reconstruction.

Iruka knew that Kakashi had no intention of taking on another genin team, citing that his jounin duties would leave him little to no time take care of another team. Sometimes, Iruka wondered if that was the only reason.

"Iruka-chaaan."

Just as Iruka was about to ask Kakashi about the weather, proving once again that he had no idea how to act around the other man, someone leaned against his back.

"Rei… Let up."

"Did I surprise you?" Iruka shook his head as his neighbour scowled at him.

Rei sighed and wiped her glasses before putting them back on, "Risa told me that you've not talked to her since the last time you went out…"

Iruka rubbed the back of his head, feeling slightly embarrassed. He coughed, "Ah, I thought she didn't want to see me again."

Rei humphed, and lamented about the thickness of boys. "She was hinting! You didn't expect her to tell you to date her again, did you?"

"Why not? Wouldn't that make things easier?"

Obviously not expecting the answer, both Iruka and Rei turned to look at Kakashi. Kakashi just blinked innocently. A shrewd expression crossed Rei's face. Iruka started to worry a little. This neighbour of his was a bit of a match maker, and she had been going after him with date after date after date. Most of the girls she introduced were very nice girls, but unfortunately, they were generally civilians, and Iruka had learnt the hard way that it was very difficult for civilians to understand the lives of shinobis.

It was not fair to them too.

Seeing Rei's expectant face, Iruka sighed as he received his noodles. "Rei, meet Hatake Kakashi, Kakashi-sensei, meet Ryuuno Rei. She is my neighbour."

Kakashi nodded, and to Iruka's dismay, he pulled out a very familiar looking orange bound book and flipped it opened. 

"Hey, hey, Hatake-san, what kind of girls do you like?" Before Iruka could warn Rei, his over enthusiastic neighbour dropped the bomb right there.

That was not to say that Iruka was not interested, but he was a ninja after all, so he preferred to be more… subtle.

"I do not like girls."

Putting down a bowl that was emptied before anyone could notice, Kakashi stood and placed his money on the table. He reached out, and with a finger on Iruka's chin, gently pushed it closed. Without another word, Kakashi teleported out of the ramen store.

"WHAT?"

**Part 4: 4 Leaf Clover**

Kakashi lazily threw the shuriken at the back of the escaping prisoner. It's been 2 months since Sasuke left the village to follow Orochimaru, and Kakashi was still trying to sniff out any information about where they might be hiding at. The guilt was eating at him from the insides. If only he could have been a better leader.

Was there something that he could have done better?

Kakashi lightly stopped next to the fallen prisoner when something caught his eye. He leaned down to pick it up, and felt metal pass by his back.

"Ah." Kakashi picked up the thing that caught his eye, and look up to see a cleaver stuck to a tree. It had been thrown with such force that the short blade was quivering.

"That was lucky for you." Kakashi turned around to the direction of the voice.

A group of 8 men appeared from behind the tree trunks; all of them wearing the prison garb of the place they escaped from. And none of them looked friendly. Kakashi, tired from the recent rush of missions, carefully placed the item into his flak jacket's pocket, and slid his kunai from his pouch. Hopefully he won't get too much blood on him.

Making quick work of the first five prisoners, Kakashi chased after the remaining three. As he was chasing after them, signs of a fight that happened in the same area. The gashes on the trees looked like they were from a kunai, and Kakashi casually freed a shuriken from a tree. 

Another Konoha ninja was in the area.

Kakashi easily caught up to the slowest running, and possibly the loudest. The moment Kakashi touched him, the man screamed like the hounds of hell were going after him. To protect his ears, Kakashi hit the man in the head, rendering him unconscious. He started to go after the remaining escapees, and the blast happened so quickly that he barely had time to do an exchange jutsu.

Kakashi would admit though, he was very impressed with the explosion.

When the culprit… his comrade appeared, Kakashi was surprised to see that it was his genin team's ex-teacher. They've never really talked, but his team was always comparing Kakashi to him. Very obviously, they held their academy teacher in high regards; Kakashi only wished that they respected him the same way.

Then, maybe Sasuke wouldn't have run away.

"Kakashi-san?"

"Ah."

Iruka-sensei sure looked pleased with himself. Kakashi assumed that it was because the chuunin was the one who set the trap up. It did help him take out the rest of the prisoners, so Kakashi was not going to take revenge for almost being blown up too. Iruka also looked better than the last time Kakashi saw him. Well, anything would look better than having bruises on one's face, with blood oozing out from various wounds, not to mention the green look from having inhaled poison gas.

Kakashi couldn't imagine what Naruto would say if Kakashi had let his favourite teacher die.

What was it about Iruka that inspired such loyalty in Naruto? He was a decent enough chuunin (Kakashi had flipped his file before accepting the invitation to be Team 7's leader), and he was not a bad academy teacher. Kakashi, from what he had discreetly gathered from friends and colleagues, also knew that Iruka was a responsible and good person. The kind that Kakashi should really stay away from.

"We should go for ramen together sometime."

Kakashi's head turned so fast that he was afraid he'd given himself whiplash. He smiled under his mask and patted his pocket. 

Maybe there was something to be said about four leaf clovers.

**Part 5: Horse Shoes**

It had been a rare holiday for Kakashi. For once, he was not out of village on a mission. In fact, the Hokage had given him the day off. 

"Enjoy the festivities!" the strongest ninja of the village had said as she kicked his tired ass out of the mission room. 

With his sudden freedom, Kakashi was not too sure what to do with himself. He could give his dogs a cleaning, and he should also go through his mail, or he could also clean his house, or he could spend the whole day in bed reading his books.

The choices were almost mind boggling!

Being a genius, Kakashi had no issues with so many choices! His dogs obediently let him clean them, even though they whined about having just had a cleaning last week. He cleared the mail and bills that had piled up during his missions. He didn't even have to spend too much time cleaning his house because he wasn't around enough to mess it up. He had not been to the bookstore yet, so he had no new books to read.

By the time Kakashi finished taking inventory of his weapons, it was 11am. 

Maybe he should cook lunch, but there was nothing in his fridge. Kakashi was leery about buying more food; he wasn't sure if he'd be able to eat them before they rot. But he'd been surviving on rations and soldier pills, and his tongue and stomach wanted something that was not only nutritious, but also tasty. 

Maybe Ichirak…

No, Kakashi most definitely did not feel like ramen. Maybe he should just go out to see what shop was opened. That was an idea. So he reluctantly got up and left his house. If his luck held, he wouldn't meet Gai. Kakashi did not think that he'd be up for a challenge that day.

"Ah…" He'd almost forgotten that Gai was on a mission with his team.

Team, huh? Kakashi slipped his book out from habit and opened it. His bookmark almost slipped out, and he carefully pushed the photo back into the book. 

Kakashi walked with his nose in his book, but his eyes regularly looked around to see if there was anything out of ordinary, and also for him to be able to dodge the other villagers. Occasionally, he'd glance down and turn the page. In any case, he'd already read his collections so many times that he was able to recite them by heart. He wondered when Jiraiya-sama would come out with a new book. He was definitely looking forward to it, from the missives that he received, the new books seemed like they would be another great read.  
Kakashi wondered for a bit and bought some snacks and sake from one of the festival vendors. He noticed that they were selling Sensei's, Rin's and Obito's favourite snacks, and got some of those too. Since there was a festival going on, he might as well celebrate it with his important people. 

Kakashi gathered his shopping and teleported to the monument. As expected, it was empty. Maybe it was due to the festival, or maybe it was because so many of Konoha's ninjas were out fulfilling missions that Kakashi was starting to get worried about their defense. But Kakashi also knew that Shika-san knew what he was doing, so he forced himself to relax a little. 

Leaning against the monument, Kakashi poured some sake for Sensei, and started to tell them what has happened.

"Sorry. I failed again…"

When he was finished, night had fallen. Kakashi got up, intent on going home when some shadows suddenly appeared and disappeared within the trees. Instinct had Kakashi hiding himself in the dark, as the shadows appeared again. There were some whispers, and Kakashi caught enough to know that they were there for no good reason. Just as he was about to attack, the intruders disappeared.

Not good. Kakashi summoned his dogs and after sending one with the information regarding the intruders to the Hokage's room, set the rest to sniff out where the intruders went. 

They did not take an easy path, and the route was meandering enough that it took even Kakashi a while realise where they were going and what they were aiming for. Unfortunately for Kakashi, the intruders had infiltrated the festival, making it even more difficult for him to spot them. Cursing, Kakashi continued to have his dog follow their scent trails while he too join the throng of people at the festival.

As he walked within the crowd, Kakashi kept his ears and ears opened for the intruders. At points, he thought he heard the low laugh of Iruka, but he blocked that out. At times, he thought he saw Iruka walking with a pretty lady in a very nice kimono. Iruka was, as expected, still in work gear. Kakashi made a mental note to find Iruka later to let him know about Naruto's newest information later. 

First, he'd have to find the enemy.

Kakashi thought that it might have been good luck that he was able to find Iruka and the enemies at the same time. But Iruka would have probably seen in differently.

Having a deep wound in your side tend to colour your thinking.

As Kakashi hefted Iruka onto his shoulders, he ignored the blood dripping onto his flak jacket. The ninjas on duty would be able to handle the rest, and he bounded off towards the hospital. 

In Iruka's ward, Kakashi tried to wash the blood off his jacket while they sew the still unconscious man up. His wounds were not considered bad enough to worry, but since the medic-nins were still worried about the poison, they kept Iruka for one night. Kakashi nodded his thanks at the doctor, and settled in for the night. His neck was going to ache the next day, but something was compelling Kakashi to stay for the night.

Kakashi only fell asleep just as the sun was rising.

**Part 6: Shooting Stars**

"I do not like girls."

Kakashi groaned into his pillow, to the consternation of his dogs. They tilted their heads as one as they all looked at the master who had been making strange noises into his pillow for the past hour. After a while, they got tired of their game, and each of them went out into the yard into their respective houses. Only Pakkun stayed in the room.

"You okay, boss?"

"Yeah… just… nothing. I'm okay." Came the muffled reply.

Kakashi was mortified. What made him say that? True, he was not attracted to girls, and he could almost physically feel the matchmaking vibes from Iruka's neighbour. But surely he could have come out with something better, right?

Kakashi lifted his head and then buried it in his pillow again. He was an idiot. Obito was right, and so was Rin. Even with an IQ of a genius, he was an idiot.

And idiot with a… maybe… a beginning of a crush on someone.

That was the only reason for that sort of answer. His brain must have shut down and instinct must have taken over. And then, instinct just screwed things over.

If only there were training courses for such things.

As much as he was a fan of the Icha Icha books, Kakashi definitely knew that Jiraiya-sama was not the best source of knowledge for such things. And Kakashi's experience with such feelings was nothing to brag about.

It's okay, Hatake. Iruka would probably laugh it off, or ignore it.

Turning around to lie on his back, Kakashi stared at the ceiling. His mind a blank. When his doorbell rang, he was out of his bed like a spring loaded Jack-in-a-box. He hurried to the door, worry causing a line to appear between his eyes. 

Nothing good came out of a doorbell rang at night.

Not in Kakashi's experience anyway.

"Yes."

Mouth opened (but under the mask), Kakashi was a little stunned, to say the least, at finding a sheepish looking Iruka standing by his door.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei."

Answer him, you idiot.

"Iruka-sensei… how may I help you?"

"Well, you left Ichiraku in kind of a hurry, so I thought I'd check in to see if everything was fine."

Fine… things are fine… now.

"Yes. Everything is fine."

Kakashi could only stand and stare at Iruka, who was looking at him with an expectant expression. After a while, what could only be termed disappointment showed on Iruka's face. But only for a brief period of time before it was hidden so perfectly that Kakashi thought that he might have imagined it.

"Well, then, good night, Kakashi-sensei."

"Ah!" Kakashi reached out to grab Iruka's arm, and came close to having his wrist slit. Kakashi let go immediately and Iruka slid his kunai back into its hiding place. Kakashi never knew that a person's face could turn so red; especially when the person is so tanned at the same time.

"Sorry!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

And they look at each other and burst out in laughter.

"Would you like to come in, Iruka-sensei?"

" It would be my pleasure. I heard that there would be shooting stars tonight, so I came over to ask if you'd like to watch them with me." Iruka stepped in and took off his shoes at the door landing. "Excuse me for the intrusion."

"Well, if you don't mind watching it with a few dogs in my yard, I've got some pretty good sake."

"Sure." Kakashi reached to latch the door as Iruka slowly walked into the living room.

"Oh, by the way, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hai?"

"I like boys too."


End file.
